One morning in Geneva, we gave ourselves plenty of time to enjoy the Gagosian Gallery, one of the more well known locations on the European art market row. I had been to the Beverly Hills and Madison Avenue locations, so I was looking forward to seeing what the Geneva Gallery had in store.
On display in their stunning studio were drawings by Richard Serra. Unfortunately, they were a bit disappointing. While I happen to truly enjoy his sculptures and to value him as the famous sculpter that he is, I didn’t quite understand why they were focusing on his mundane drawings instead. They featured a number of drawings from his Greenpoint series, namely Dreiser and Artaud, both of which take up expansive canvases but offer very little in creativity or energy.
Other works in the exhibit were Stratum 12 and Tracks #47 that were supposed to show the play of light and darkness and to give the viewer a sense of mass and volume. I think I’ll have to wait until he has a sculpture exhibit to truly appreciate his genius.
(This drawing is by Richard Serra; Tracks #47, 2008; Paintstick on handmade paper; 40 x 40 inches (101.6 x 101.6 cm))